ADL’S ABE FOXMAN DISPUTES CRITICISM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE POSITION
armradio.am
15.04.2008 14:51
Responding to a question about the Anti-Defamation League’s
reluctance to unequivocally recognize the Armenian Genocide, Abe
Foxman, National Director of the ADL said, "No one can dictate to
you to use the word that you want us to use. We will use the words
that we feel comfortable with."
Foxman’s statement was part of a somewhat rambling answer to a
question posed at the conclusion of a speech in San Francisco related
to his book, "Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish
Control." The speech took place at the Jewish Community Center on
April 7, 2008. Foxman spoke about international anti-Semitism directed
towards Jews and Israel. He repeatedly condemned and called for an
end to the use of racist, anti-Jewish euphemisms.
The first question posed to Foxman asked why he has chosen to use
euphemisms in regard to the Armenian Genocide. Foxman prefaced his
response by informing the audience that some people are not happy
with the Anti-Defamation League’s position the issue of the Armenian
Genocide, and he went on to state that the issue should be resolved
between Turks and Armenians.
After years of lobbying against Armenian Genocide recognition in
Congress and refusing to unequivocally acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide, Foxman’s position was publicized last year in the New
England media, prompting a public outcry which included conflict among
ADL officials. As a result, on August 21, the ADL published an ad in
several Boston-area community newspapers, stating in part, "In light of
the heated controversy that has surrounded the Turkish-Armenian issue
in recent weeks, and because of our concern for the unity of the Jewish
community at a time of increased threats against the Jewish people,
ADL has decided to revisit the tragedy that befell the Armenians. We
have never negated but have always described the painful events of
1915-1918 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians as
massacres and atrocities. On reflection, we have come to share the
view of Henry Morgenthau Sr. that the consequences of those actions
were indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed
then, they would have called it genocide."
Although some applauded the ADL’s new position, it also prompted
criticism for it’s use of the qualifier "tantamount," and the term
"consequences of those actions" suggesting the Armenian Genocide was
not carried out with the intent to destroy a people, as defined by
the U.N. and the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The ADL has also recently reiterated its opposition to U.S. recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, as well as Turkey’s call for an "impartial
study" of the Armenian Genocide. Turkey has repeatedly called for a
"historical commission," despite it’s prime minister’s statements
that Turks could never have committed a genocide, and its continued
criminal prosecutions of citizens who discuss the Armenian Genocide.
Turkish press has reported that the ADL wrote to Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan, expressing its sorrow for the discomfort the acknowledgement
of the Armenian Genocide caused Turkey’s leadership and people. Erdogan
announced, "The wrong step that has been taken is corrected … They
said they shared our sensitivity and expressed the mistake they made
[and] will continue to give us all the support they have given so far."
The national ADL’s position on the Armenian Genoicde runs counter
to the position of a wide range of Jewish organizations in the Bay
Area. In November, 2007, the San Francisco Bay Area’s Jewish Community
Relations Council re-iterated its support for official recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. As the Jewish community’s public affairs
arm, the JCRC represents more than 80 Jewish organizations across
the Bay Area. The organization, which includes the membership of
the San Francisco chapter of the ADL, overwhelmingly approved a
policy statement re-issuing a 1989 letter to Armenian community
leader Bishop Aris Shirvanian, expressing support for the Armenian
Genocide resolution pending in the U.S. Senate at that time. Senate
Joint Resolution 212 sought to designate April 24th as a national
day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.
Foxman’s full answer to the question about his position on the
Armenian Genocide was: "The question is, this is a public issue,
a public debate.
There are people out there who are not happy with the Anti-Defamation
League’s position on the issue of the Armenian Genocide. To reply
to your question, the Anti-Defamation League, has for as many year
as I know, and I’ve been involved for 43 years in the league and its
director for 21 years, has always described, the events of 1915-1918,
between Turkey and/in the Ottoman Empire and the Armenian people as
a massacre, as a terrible tragedy, and an issue, that, it should be
resolved between the Turkish people and the Armenian people.
We never denied it… We never challenged or questioned… We didn’t
use the words that you use… And it’s not a moral question of,
to use your words. We could use your words. Usually a certain word
becomes a political issue. And it would be as if we, the Jewish people,
would say to you or everybody else, ‘Unless you use the word [Shoah]
and Holocaust to describe the events of 1933-1945, unless you use
our words, you are a Holocaust denier.’ That’s nonsense. We have
used the word. We have used it in the context of what we believe in
applying it. But we have never, never, in terms of an organization,
and a people, denied the tragedy, of the massacre.
But we haven’t used the word that you want to use. And you use this,
and this is for all you here now, not only to accuse us, but to point
to the Anti-Defamation league, to prevent us from teaching diversity,
I think that’s wrong. But we’ve all, you know, wanted to share the
pain. But no one can dictate to you to use the word that you want
us to use. We will use the words that we feel comfortable with. And
we’ve used the word genocide…
And so now it’s, "Not only do you have to use the word, but you have
to support legislation in Congress,’ which we don’t, and we don’t,
we’re "immoral," etc. And we have articulated our position. I’ve
used the word genocide… Some people don’t like exactly how we’ve
formulated it, but that’s what makes this country a democracy. And
we have never denied it, we don’t deny it, but again you don’t have a
right to dictate to us how the word should be formed, in what manner,
and what shape…"
Flyers detailing the ADL’s position on the Armenian Genocide, which
were being distributed on the sidewalk in front of the Jewish Community
Center, were destroyed by security guards.
The ANC of San Francisco advocates for the social, economic, cultural,
and political rights of the area’s Armenian American community and
promotes increased Armenian American civic participation at the
grassroots and public policy levels.